Disclaimer: I am not Margaret Mitchell, I own nothing, everything goes to the Margaret Mitchell estate.
"You said you would send a telegram." Scarlett protested to Rhett.
"Well, I changed my mind and decided to come for you myself. Aren't you happy to see me?" He challenged in a hurt tone.
They were standing in the parlor of Tara, Rhett having arrived, quite unexpectedly, only a few moments before. Scarlett had been sitting on the front porch, resting from a hard day's work out in the fields, when he rode up on his horse, managing to knock her whole world off kilter. What was he doing here? This was the last place she wanted him to be right now. Once he saw what a mess Tara was in he would know that she had been deceiving him at the jail, and then he would never marry her; and she would lose Tara for sure. But what was she to do about it? She couldn't very well turn him away. So she had let him in; trying to act as if there were nothing wrong or missing in Tara. As though it were everything that she had made it out to be a few weeks prier in the jail house. A beautiful, well furnished, thriving plantation; and not this empty, dark, almost dead piece of land she called home.
"Of course I want you here, Rhett. It's just a surprise that's all. I was waiting to a telegram, letting me know you were out of jail. I never in all my dreams thought you would come here to get me." Scarlett said, trying to show some joy in seeing him here, even if it was truly that last place she wanted him to be. "Why wouldn't I be happy to see you?"
"Oh, I don't know, Scarlett. Maybe because you didn't want me to come here and find out that you had lied to me about how Tara was doing." So, Scarlett thought, he has figured it out. "That you didn't want me to know that you were marrying me for my money." His voice was calm, but flat, and icy cold.
"Is that why you came here, Rhett? To see if I had lied to you?" Scarlett was wary of him now. Had he guess long ago that Tara wasn't doing as well as she had made him think? He had always known when she was lying to him. Did he know this time?
"Yes, partly." His reply was even colder than before, if that was even possible.
"Partly?"
"I did come here for that reason. Or at least that was part of the reason I came here. The other reason was to see for myself if you had really gotten that wooden headed Ashley out of your mind, and your heart." The last part came out with a little more feeing than before; but that feeling was hatred and anger, not love and caring as Scarlett had hoped. "I don't intend to marry you if you still love him, Scarlett." Rhett almost whispered, his voice was so low and quiet.
"You mean you still want to marry me?" Scarlett was shocked. She had been sure that after Rhett saw what a mess the plantation was in he would call off the wedding and never make she same offer again. This was a surprise entirely.
"That, my pet, depends completely upon your answer to my next question. Why did you lie to me at the jail and tell me that everything was fine here?" His eyes bore into her, making her feel as if he could see strait to her very soul. Scarlett knew she would have to think fast and make this good. If there was even a hint of delay in her reply, he would know she was making this up as she went along and all would be lost.
"I thought that if you knew how bad things were here you wouldn't even see me because you would think that I just wanted you money." Scarlett said without a bit of hesitation. That part at least was true. "I so wanted you to marry me Rhett, but I knew you never would if you thought it was just for your money; and I couldn't bare the thought of that. So I made a new dress out of the portières that were handing over those windows behind you and tried to make you think that all was well at Tara, in hopes that you wouldn't see it for what it was, a lie. But I guess I was wrong." Slow tears started to fall down Scarlett's face, but these were real tears, not the kind that she forced when she wanted sympathy; and these were the kind she not only hated, but didn't understand why they were coming.
"Scarlett, look at me." Using his finger, Rhett lifted Scarlett's chin to force her to look at him. "Why did you want me to marry you Scarlett, if not for the money?" His voice was gentle but offered no backing out; she would answer his question if he had to drag it out of her himself.
Scarlett raised her eyes and looked at him through her thick, dark, tear coated lashes. What was she to say? Now that she thought about it she didn't honestly know why she wanted to marry him. At first it had been just for the money. But now, she wasn't so sure. Could there be more to it than that? A look at confusion filled Scarlett's eyes. Then a mask of surprise, fear, an horror, at not understanding her own self, covered Scarlett's face. As she looked at Rhett, Scarlett knew there was no choice but to tell him the truth; she didn't know why she wanted to marry him, but she knew that she did.
"I-I don't know why." Scarlett's voice came out cracked and quiet. It was so soft that Rhett had to lean in to hear her. "At first, I must admit, it was for the money. But now, with you standing here, I can't say why I want to marry you, but I do. I just don't know why. I'm sorry, Rhett." Scarlett backed away and headed towards the door.
Rhett was shocked. He hadn't expected her to be so completely honest with him. A made up story of silly reasons, or even a blatant lie, saying that she wanted to marry him because she loved him; he would have expected those and known how to deal with them. But this, this was different. This was the truth. Something that Scarlett almost never told him, or anyone, because it opened the door for reticule and mocking. It let people see who she really was. A scalawag, just like him. Not at all he lady that she so wanted to be, but never would. So shocked was Rhett by the realization that he didn't know how to answer to honest reply, that he almost let her leave, before noticing that she was walking away; leaving him standing there in shock and confusion.
Rhett rushed after Scarlett, catching her in just three long strides. He gently grabbed her elbow and turned her towards him. "Scarlett," the silent tears running down her cheeks and falling from her chin made him stop. The look of sheer pain in here eyes made him breathless. Why was this so hard? Why was it with this woman his words got tied up in knots and he couldn't put two words together? Why did just one look from her silence him in an instant? Did she know the power she held over him?
Scarlett looked at him through the tears pooling in her eyes, making his face blurry. The saliva in her mouth was so thick and the lump in her throat so big, it was difficult to swallow properly. Her voice came out heavy with emotion. "Rhett, please, I just," Before she could finish the sentence his lips had captured hers. He pulled her to himself possessively, deepening the kiss to an extent that Scarlett thought she would faint if he went on much longer; yet at the same time, wanting him to never stop. She leaned forward into him, her arms going up around his neck, her fingers entwining in his hair. His hands were around her waist, moving up and down her back, massaging her lower back and her shoulders. Then they were in her hair, dislodging the few pins that held it up. Her hair came cascading down around her shoulders. She heard a low moan then realized that it had come from her. Scarlett broke the kiss. If that's even really what that was; she wasn't sure anymore. She wasn't sure about anything. Ashley had never kissed her like that before, and certainly not Charles. Their breathing was fast, and their lips were swollen. Scarlett then noticed that they had moved, instead of standing over by the door, which Rhett had been wise enough to close when he first came in, they were now in a chair, with her on Rhett's lap. She looked at him and saw the raw hunger in his eyes. The need and wanting, and she wondered if it was in her eyes as well.
"Rhett, we must stop. If Wade, or Mammy, or Melly; oh if Melly were to come in here and see me, us, like this. I would die of shame." Scarlett said; all the while wishing she had never broken the kiss in the first place.
"Shame, for kissing the man you intend to marry?" He was laughing at her now, but his eyes still held that urning for her that was there a moment before.
Oh, you know what I mean, Rhett." Scarlett stood, removing herself from his lap.
"Yes my pet, I know what you mean." His voice held the laugh that he was holding back.
"Good, now, let's go find Melly and the children. They're going to want to know that your here." Scarlett walked towards the door.
"My pet, don't you think you should do something about your hair, before going to see Mrs. Wilkes?" Rhett asked as he bent to pick up one of the hair pins that had fallen to the floor.
"Oh, yes, I suppose I should, shouldn't I?" Scarlett said as her face turned a nice shade of pink at the thought that she had almost walked right out an let everyone know what had gone on in the parlor.
AN: Well, what did you think? Are you happy that Rhett knows about her deception but still wants her as his wife? And what of Scarlett? It would seem that she is beginning to see that Rhett is the man for her. But will it all go as happily ever after as we think? Who is to know? Not me, Scarlett has a mind of her own, I'm just telling you her story. So click that little button and tell me how you think I'm doing and where you think this should go. =)
~Cat~
